The Batman (1943)
Chapter Three: Mark of the Zombies!
So far, the two big cliffhangers have involved The Batman falling (Click here and here for the tedious details). This time, however, they spice it by having our frequently plummeting hero drag Linda to her death along with him, as the two falling lovers unite to squash Robin.
How does The Batman survive this time? Honestly, I haven’t a clue. It appears that Robin throws The Batman a line as he plunges 32 feet per second per second, he catches it, performs the Indian Rope Trick in mid-air, then shins safely down to the ground with his unconscious girlfriend still draped around his shoulders like a fleshy shrug. Of course, due to the Ritalin-deprived editing, I can’t be entirely certain this is what happened, but I’m pretty sure I saw Hadji do a similar thing once on Jonny Quest.
As you recall, in the previous episode, Daka’s Chief Thug (CT) also performed a bit of legerdemain, grabbing a live wire barehanded and magically using it to turn an ordinary steel cable into that fuse from the opening credits of Mission: Impossible! (so apparently The Batman’s nemesis isn’t Dr. Daka, it’s Doug Henning). Anyway, having failed to kill the Caped Crusader by electrocuting himself, CT suddenly remembers that he has a gun, and – feeling a little sheepish, I’m guessing – pulls it out and starts shooting, but it’s too little, too late.
The other thugs predict that Daka won’t be pleased, but CT hotly retorts, “I’m not afraid of him or any other squint eye!” (Meaning, I presume, that he is also not afraid of Robert Newton’s Long John Silver from Treasure Island.) So while CT is a traitor, a saboteur, and a murderer, at least deep down he’s still American enough to take pride in his eyes’ lack of an epicanthic fold.
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